Tanner Norton won the Alamance County Amateur for the second year in a row, though the back nine of the final round Sunday afternoon at Indian Valley Municipal Golf Course proved to be a matter of survival.

Tied with second-round leader Steve Bingham midway through the last round, Norton made it to the end for a four-shot victory on Tony Byerly, who held the lead after the first round.

“I know this is the way none of us wanted to finish,” Norton said. “But it was definitely interesting.”

The trio ran into near-constant trouble at Indian Valley Municipal Golf Course. Norton came through with the least amount of damage.

“I played bad the first day,” he said. “The second day I came out here and got a good round in.”

The final holes proved to be an adventure. Norton triple-bogeyed the par-4 15th hole and took bogey on the par-3 16th. He posted par on No. 17 before heading to the last hole as all threats appeared to have faded.

Still, Norton’s drive on No. 18 sailed to the left and he said he thought it might have hit the cart path and headed for the water. Instead, he had a shot to the green.

Norton completed the task after hitting his approach to within about 8 feet and settling for par.

Norton, a 2011 Elon University graduate and former college golfer, turned in a 3-over-par 73 on the last round, finishing at 1-under 209 for the tournament. He was buoyed by birdies on Nos. 8, 10 and 11.

There was a significant swing on the par-4 10th hole. Bingham arrived at his ball after his tee shot and was surprised to see his view to the green blocked by a tree. His double-bogey on that hole was a hindrance, and with Norton posting birdies on consecutive holes there was sudden a gap among the leaders.

“From that point, I was playing from behind,” said Bingham, the 2011 club champion at Indian Valley Municipal Golf Course. “On the backside, I couldn’t make anything.”

Bingham ended up with 80, including 42 across the back nine, in the last round. He tied with Jonathan Blackard and Nelson Nance, who wasn’t even in the first flight, with 214 for the tournament.

Byerly’s 76 put him at 213. Byerly, a two-time Alamance County Amateur champion and winner of June’s inaugural Graham City Amateur, is a former clubhouse manager at Southwick Golf Course until leaving that position a few month ago and take a job as a car salesman in Graham.

Norton, 23, is working at the new Dunham's Sports store in Burlington. The Alamance Christian School graduate plays most often at The Challenge Golf Club in Graham.